The present invention relates generally to lawn mowers, and more particularly to selfpropelled, walk-behind commercial type lawn mowers having a mower deck with a rotatable wing section pivotally attached to one side thereof for movement between a horizontal operating position and a vertical non-operating position.
Most current lawn mowers designed for commercial use are either dedicated walk-behind lawn mowers or conventional riding lawn mowers. Commercial type riding lawn mowers are generally quite large, heavy and difficult to maneuver around obstacles, such as trees and shrubs and the like. An example of such a riding lawn mower is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,796 to Yamaoka et al. Riding lawn mowers are also quite expensive to purchase and maintain. The substantial cost of purchasing and maintaining riding mowers has led many lawn mower service companies to rely more heavily on the use of lower cost, mid-size, walk-behind rotary mowers.
The walk-behind mowers are generally smaller, more maneuverable, and less expensive than riding mowers. Being self-powered, these mowers are capable of cutting large areas of grass. The walk-behind mowers are also relatively simple to operate, and inexpensive to purchase and maintain compared to riding lawn mowers. In addition, these mowers are generally safer and more useful in mowing steep hills. Furthermore, they are small enough to be easily stored and transported by commercial lawn mower service companies. One example of a self-powered, walk-behind mower is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,733 to Berrios.
Most prior art walk-behind lawn mowers typically include fixed width mower decks having widths of 32, 36, 48, 52 or 61 inches. In many applications it is desirable to have a mower which can cut a relatively wide path of grass in order to efficiently handle larger lawns and fields. A commercial landscaper would prefer to use the largest width mower deck in order to cut the grass in as short a time as possible. The cost and time of mowing can be substantially reduced by using a mower with a wide cutting path. However, many areas of grass are enclosed by a fence having only a narrow gate or passageway for entering and exiting the area. Therefore, a lawn mower having a relatively wide fixed width mower deck such as a 48, 52 or 61 inch deck will not fit through a narrow opening. In turn, only lawn mowers having smaller width mower decks, such as 32 or 36 inches will be able to be used in such areas. This will decrease mowing efficiency and increase the time for mowing fenced-in areas.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved walk-behind lawn mower having a relatively wide mower deck with a rotatable wing section pivotally attached to one side thereof for movement between a horizontal operating position and a vertical non-operating position so that the mower may be used for mowing grass in enclosed areas.